


The Adventures of Giselle and Fabrienne

by Exceedingly



Category: Original Work
Genre: Blood and Injury, Body Horror, F/F, Fantasy, Trans Female Character, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-09
Updated: 2016-10-10
Packaged: 2018-08-20 10:56:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,852
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8246401
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Exceedingly/pseuds/Exceedingly
Summary: Giselle is just a farmhand living a mundane, though not unpleasant, life. But one day Fabrienne, a warrior woman riding atop a noble steed, strides into Giselle's life and offers her a new one, filled with adventure. These are their stories.





	1. The Farmhand and the Warrior

**Author's Note:**

> This is basically what I work on when I don't feel like working on the things that I have to plan out and go through multiple drafts of. There's only one draft with these chapters, and the story has no particular endgame or planned progression. I am actively trying not to plan this out or edit it beyond the initial writing period, to keep it fun for myself. I'll probably experiment with the types of adventures they have as I go along, too. I hope you all enjoy! Just don't be too anxious for updates... they will inherently be pretty sporadic.

A giant gleaming sword. A majestic towering steed. Flowing red hair. Entrancing green eyes. Soft brown lips...

These were some of the first things I noticed about the woman who strode gallantly into my life one spring morning, changing it forever.

"Excuse me, noble farmhand. Might you point me to a place I may quench my thirst?" she had said, staring down at me from high atop her magnificent horse.

Trying not to stutter in my shock, I pointed to a hill behind me. "That way ma-ma'am." Dang it.

Bowing slightly, the woman smiled and said, "Thank you, dear... be you a maiden, or a fellow, or something else entirely?"

I blinked, processing the choices. "Maiden?"

"Excellent. I thought you to be quite a treat for the eyes, but I dare not presume how one identifies. Well, good day, gorgeous maiden!"

And like that she was off, just like my heart in my chest. She was odd, but also absurdly beautiful, and I was not immune to flattery, especially given how little I ever received of it.  
I didn't expect to ever see her again, so I contented myself in fantasizing about her for the next hour or two as I went about my business. These fantasies were abruptly but not unpleasantly cut short when I once more heard the sounds of a horse drawing near, coming in the same direction the woman had left in earlier.

It was her! For some reason she was back, and she wasn't just passing me by, she was headed right for me! She brought her horse to a stop a few paces away from where I stood, a sly smile on her face.

"Fair maiden!" she called out, even though I wasn't far.

"I'm less 'fair' than you," I pointed out with a smirk and a roll of my eyes. Her light brown cheeks flushed with a little more colour than they normally contained.

Clearing her throat, she said, "Ah, yes, my apologies. That aside, I wanted to bestow upon you a proposition."

Raising an eyebrow, I muttered, "Um, alright...?"

"How would you like to accompany me on my adventures?" She had either noticed I was attracted to her earlier, or was just really presumptuous, given how alluring an expression she was attempting, and failing, to make.

It didn't take me long to consider the offer - while part of me would have loved to, there was no way I could just leave behind my family and my duties. We had to make money somehow, and they couldn't do it all by themselves anymore. "I'm sorry, um...?"

"Fabrienne."

"Um, Fabrienne," I continued. "I would love to, but..."

"If the issue is that you need to help your family make money, I can assure you they've no need of that anymore."

I had no idea what she was talking about.

"I got a great deal of gold from my last adventure, and was looking for something to do with it. Your father is the man in the house over the hill you pointed me toward, correct?"

I nodded, eyes wide.

"Well then, yes, your family should be good for quite some time. And I already talked it over with them - they are fine with you leaving, if that is what you want to do."

My reasons for staying now removed, I found I couldn't help but agree to accompany her. A significant part of me had always wanted to do something else with my life, but I'd never before felt like I'd actually get the chance to figure out what.

Beaming, the woman helped pull me up onto the back of her horse, and the two of us rode off into what was, for me, the great unknown.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, I know it's really short, but it's just the introduction of the characters and the set up for their adventuring. I've been writing their first main adventure and will probably finish it fairly soon.


	2. Dissatisfaction and Wolves (First Adventure, Part I)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This whole 'adventuring' thing isn't going quite like Giselle had imagined. When a woman in distress calls for help, Giselle isn't even sure that Fabrienne is up to the task.

Nearly a week since Fabrienne gallantly strode into my life had passed, and I was starting to consider that I may have made a mistake.

We had done nothing but ride around the countryside for days. We'd had to find streams and rivers for water, and hunt our own food, or, in a few cases, beg for help from the few other humans we happened across. Fabrienne had given my parents all of the money she had, it turned out, so we had nothing to buy food with.

Her story was that she had gotten the treasure from a dragon she had slain, but thus far I had been given no reason to assume she was capable of such a feat. Though she struck a great pose and was certainly audacious enough, the fact was that Fabrienne was... completely incompetent. She had no idea where she was going. She had no idea what she was doing, or how to do it. She had virtually no discernable skills aside from horse riding. And her weird way of talking was awkwardly inconsistent and inaccurate, regardless of what exactly she was striving for.

I found myself grateful that we had yet to encounter any threats, because at this point I felt like the horse would be more capable of keeping me safe than the woman atop it.

It was with this sullen and bitter mindset that I found myself one evening, as Fabrienne, the horse and I sat near a small fire that I had made (Fabrienne didn't know how).

Starng intently at the ground, I barely raised my head to glance in her direction when she cautiously began speaking to me. "Giselle... you have seemed... distant, lately. Does something trouble your mind?"

"I'm fine," I grumbled, not particularly in a talking mood.

"Then why do your eyes bore holes into the ground?" she pressed, leaning toward me anxiously.

Sighing, I barely prevented my eyes from rolling. "Well... I'm not particularly satisfied with how the last week has gone. You promised adventure, but we haven't come close to anything I would remotely describe that way."

Jolting to her feet, Fabrienne struck her chest with a fist, staring up at the sky with determination. "Ah, yes, the life of an adventurer is not always one of excitement. But it is our duty, our solemn vow, to seek adventure out, wherever it may hide, and however long it may take to find it!"

I stared at her, incredulous. "You sound like you're part of some adventuring group, talking about vows. But it's just us, running around through fields and forests looking for... I don't even know what."

Determined face beginning to falter, Fabrienne's gallant pose dropped into a more normal one. "I... admit that adventure has been... a tad difficult to come by as of late. But if we keep pressing on..."

"Also, why do you talk like that? You word things strangely sometimes, and you almost always have this... this tone. I don't know how to describe it. It's like you're trying to sound heroic, but it doesn't sound genuine."

Fabrienne's eyes flashed from side to side, a nervous bead of sweat forming on her brow. "I... um... I..." Sitting back down, Fabrienne stared at the ground much as I had been, then mumbled, "I thought it sounded cool."

My eyes went wide. My body shook from my attempts to hold in my involuntary reaction. But I couldn't manage - harsh, loud laughter escaped my lips, resounding in the dark forest around us. "Are you serious!?"

Refusing to look at me, Fabrienne replied, "U-um... I mean... yes?"

I made a small derisive sound, rage building up inside me. "That's why you do pretty much everything, isn't it? Just to seem cool? It would certainly explain a lot. I can't believe I agreed to go with you! What was I thinking!?"

Fabrienne looked up at me with scared eyes, her body visibly shaking. "G-giselle, look, I-"

A shrill scream pierced the air, coming from deeper inside the forest.

Shaking her head, perhaps to clear her mind, Fabrienne leapt to her feet and turned in the direction of the shriek. "Adventure calls!"

I stood and crossed my arms, but otherwise refused to move. "And do you actually have any ability to answer that call?"

Pulling herself into the horse's saddle, Fabrienne faltered for a moment. "Do I... of course I do! I am the great warrior and adventurer Fabrienne! There is no adventurous call that I do not heed!"

"Uh-huh," I said, still unmoving.

Waiting a moment to see if I would relent, Fabrienne twiddled her fingers and looked from side to side. "Maiden, please..."

Taking an angry step forward, I said, "Oh no, don't you start that again! You know my name, dammit!"

"Giselle, please," she immediately responded, looking me directly in the eyes. "Whoever they are, they need help." As irritated as I was, it was still hard to resist the earnestness she exuded, and she had a point.

".....Fine."

A moment later we hurried off after the voice, the horse's powerful hooves trampling the ground beneath us.

It didn't take long to find the source of the noise. Someone was running terrified through the forest, a pack of wolves close behind, jaws snapping. Fabrienne yelled in their direction, but received no indication she'd been heard from the person or the wolves.

"We'll have to cut them off. Get between that person and the wolves," said Fabrienne.

Trying to move at all when atop a galloping horse and holding onto the person in front of you for dear life is difficult, to say the least. Scootching my torso and head up Fabrienne's back, I attempted, fairly successfullly, to position my mouth fairly close to her ear. "Okay, and then what?"

"Then we slay-!"

"They're just wild animals. We don't need to kill them for chasing a meal, even if the meal is human."

"Then we scare them off!"

I dearly hoped my sarcasm could be detected despite the wind whipping past our ears as I said, "You just gonna wave your sword wildly at them?"

"Yes, exactly!"

Before I could respond, the horse took a leap over a fallen tree, and when its hooves pounded back to the ground I found my head jolted down to the middle of Fabrienne's back again, my neck a bit sore.

Not wanting to experience that again, I remained quiet as the barking of the wolves grew louder and louder. Suddenly the galloping ground to a halt, and I found myself holding on, desperately trying to not fall as the horse reared up on its hind legs. Strong hooves hammered into the ground, and as I shakily unseated and fell to my feet, I found that the wolves stood in a semi-circle in front of us, snarling but not yet attacking. Behind me, a terrified person wearing a brown hood trembled, eyes flicking between the wolves, the horse, Fabrienne, and me.

"Fear not, humble..."

"L-l-lady," the woman barely forced out.

"Humble lady! We are here to rescue you!"

Grabbing the largest nearby stick I could find, I brandished it as a weapon, keeping myself between Fabrienne and the hooded woman. We really should have discussed finding me a weapon before now.

Apparently impatient, one of the wolves leapt right at Fabrienne, who barely managed to pull her sword out in time to bat the beast away. "It's okay if I use the flat part, right?" she asked, glancing back at me.

"Um, yeah, I guess?"

"Excellent!" Without another word, Fabrienne charged forward and began waving her sword around, yelling and bashing a few wolves in the side of the head. One or two of them moved past her and toward the girl and I, but fortunately, with a few hits from my moderately-sized stick, they backed off and regrouped with the rest of the pack. A few moments later the whole group decided to turn tail and run, the meal no longer worth the effort. Fabrienne continued yelling a good twenty or thirty seconds after they disappeared.

Ignoring her, I turned back toward the woman. "Are you okay, ma'am?" I asked, extending a hand her way. Gingerly, she took it, shaking her head up and down. "Y-yes, I think so... Thank you so much for helping me."

"Not a problem, fair maiden!" Fabrienne said, her voice still closer to a shout than a normal speaking volume. I naturally wished to disagree with her use of the word "fair" again, but from what I could see under the hood and from the woman's hand, it was acually accurate ths time.

Pulling down her hood, the woman shook out her long black hair, then stared at the two of us with piercing green eyes.

"Y-your name, madame?" Fabrienne said, undoubtedly as immediately stricken as I was.

"Brie," the woman said, a sweet, somewhat sultry smile forming on her lips. "I'm afraid I have no reward to offer you two... I have no money or gold. Perhaps I could offer a kiss?"

Fabrienne and I both went a bit wide-eyed at that offer.

"S-sure..."

"You don't have to, but, if you really want to..."

"Wonderful!" Brie practically shouted. Stepping forward, she grabbed me by the shoulders, more forcefully than I had expected, and pulled me close for a kiss. I had been expecting a short kiss on the lips, or even a peck to the cheek, but Brie's tongue insistently pushing against my mouth apparently had different plans. Part of me was a bit uncomfortable with the sudden intimacy, but a greater part had never gotten to kiss a girl like that before and really wanted to, and that part was more than willing to help me part my lips. Brie's tongue danced around mine, and though this particular interaction was new to me, it was not unpleasant. All too soon, it felt, her tongue began to retreat, but the kiss didn't immediately end. Her lips pressed against mine for a bit longer, and for a moment she brought my lower lip into her mouth and sucked on it, something I, in my inexperience, would never have thought pleasurable before. There was a sudden sharp pain, as though she had accidentally bitten me, and a moment later she pulled away.

My breathing was ragged, but I still managed to force out a few words. "Wow... I, um... I think you accidentally, at the end there..."

"Apologies, sweetie," Brie said, her voice sugary sweet.

"My turn, my turn!" a blushing Fabrienne said, jumping up and down a little.

"I didn't forget you, dear..." Brie said, moving in for the kill.

My head began to feel a bit light, and shortly afterward my eyelids began to feel oddly heavy. The world swam before me for a moment, then I found myself tumbling to the ground, and my world went dark.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Was considering making this chapter and the next into one really big chapter, but I decided to split 'em up for now. The next one should be finished today or tomorrow.


	3. The Shapeshifter (First Adventure, Part II)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Giselle and Fabrienne awake and find themselves tied up inside a cave, threatened by a shapeshifting monster, how will they manage to escape?

Drip - drip -drip.

I slowly drifted back to consciousness, the repetitive dripping the first thing my mind recognized. My eyes fluttered open, still a bit blurry, but rapidly coming into focus. I was in some sort of cave... a very damp one. Water was dripping down a nearby stalactite, into a pool of water that seemed to cover most of the floor. Now that all my senses were returning, I noted how cold and damp my feet felt - a glance downward told me that my shoes were almost entirely submerged. An attempt to move my body made it clear that I was tied down, perhaps to a stalagmite. I could turn my head, but not much else.

"Uuuuggghh...." came a nearby voice. To my right, hanging from another stactite, was none other than Fabrienne. "Where... where are we?" Her eyes looked in my direction, but seemed unable to actually focus just yet.

"A cave, I think..." I replied, dread in my voice. "A very wet one."

The confused look on Fabrienne's face would be a bit adorable if I wasn't already starting to be overtaken by panic.

"How did we get here?"

Eyes desperately flitting about the room, trying to take in every relevant detail, I barely managed a reply. "Brie. Not human."

Starting to sound a bit more lucid, Fabrienne said, "Wait, Brie isn't human? And she brought us here!?"

The sword! Fabrienne's sword was sitting against the cave wall! But it was so far away... with the two of us tied up like this there was no way to get to it. "Probably a predator. Going to eat us."

Rolling her eyes, Fabrienne let out an irritated sigh. "Ugh, my first kiss was with a friggin' _monster_? This is ridiculous."

That was enough to briefly pull me out of panic mode. Eyes flashing over to Fabrienne, I stared, probably a bit too intently. "First kiss? That was your first kiss too?"

Fabrienne seemed to want to look everywhere but at me. "Um... yes. Yes it was."

"Hah, trust me, I could tell without either of you admitting it."

My head instantly swiveled toward the source of the voice to discover Brie, or whatever her real name was, slowly walking toward us, wearing the same robes she'd been in earlier, hood still pulled down.

"Unhand us, demon! We demand a fair fight!" shouted Fabrienne, twisting and turning as much as she could in her current situation, which wasn't a lot.

Brie laughed, partially covering her mouth with the back of her hand. "Dear, you're not in a position to demand anything. Why would I want to let you fight at all? The whole point of knocking you out was to avoid it."

Fabrienne frowned. "For honor, of course."

"Dear, if I'm a demon like you say, what use do I have for honor?"

Fabrienne's eyes dropped to the ground, her lips pursed in thought. A response didn't seem imminent.

"Did you... hear all of that?" I asked, the panic rising up again.

"Not sure about all of it, but the part about me planning to eat you and the virgin thing? Yes." Brie smiled wickedly, licking her lips. "I am going to eat you, by the way, you were right about that."

"I never said I was a virgin," Fabrienne interjected, clearly pouting and glaring at Brie. The monster stared, saying nothing, until Fabrienne relented and returned her gaze to the floor.

Desperately searching for a way, some remote chance, of survival, I said, "Um, so, you don't really want to eat me... I'm all skin and bones. Hardly satisfying."

Brie raised an eyebrow. "Putting aside the fact that those pleasant muscled arms of yours clearly indicate you're lying, it doesn't matter. I'm not eating you for the sustenance."

Sweat trickled down my back. Was my heart still beating? There was nothing else I could do. This was the end. No way out.

I was shocked right out of my panic by a big splash of water directly in the face. Shaking my head from side to side, I tried to get the water out of my eyes so I could figure out exactly what was going on.

"Haha, wow, that was a farther drop than I'd realized." Fabrienne stood before me, no longer tied up, standing tall and proud between me and Brie. "Also, I think I broke, like, most of my hand. Worth it, to get out of that, but also it really hurts."

Flailing uselessly against my bonds, I screamed, "The sword, get your fuckin' sword!!"

"Oh, right."

Rolling through the water, Fabrienne barely managed to dodge a black, scythe-like appendage attached to the now irate Brie.

"How the hell did you get out of that?" she roared, ignoring me for now and instead rounding on the still rolling Fabrienne. "I've tied so many people up like that, and none have ever gotten free!"

"Hah, no one's ever broken their hand to escape you before? I figured that out like five escapes ago!" Her hand, presumably the intact one, managed to grasp her sword hilt, quickly pulling it out and moving it between her body and Brie's next attack.

Brie growled in pain, green eyes now blood red and without pupils. Her human features literally melted away, dissolving into some sort of tall white monster. Her limbs were spindly, her nails like scythes. Her face was elongated, mouth full of sharp teeth. Her skin looked like it was melting, and yet was also clearly unmoving. Suffice to say I was significantly less attracted to her in this form.

Another swipe was barely deflected by Fabrienne's sword, but it was a decoy, as a second unexpected swipe managed to lacerate Fabrienne's side.

"Hah, okay, I'm pretty sure armor is supposed to work a little better than that," Fabrienne said, wincing, but still standing ready to fight. "Those are some sharp claws you've got, Brie."

The monstrous version of Brie moved her mouth in a way that might have been a smirk, but it was hard to read any actual emotion into it, alien as it was. "I'd thank you, but I'd rather just kill you and eat your flesh."

"Maybe reconsider the thanking?"

A quick roll prevented Brie's wordless response. Coming out of the roll, Fabrienne stood firmly on her feet, raising her sword up high and to her left. With full force she brought it swinging toward Brie, smacking her directly in the side of the face with the flat part. Brie's claws once more pierced Fabrienne's side as the monster's own swing connected, and was then torn away by the force of Fabrienne's blow. Brie was sent hurtling into the cave wall, where she collapsed to the ground, momentarily unconscious.

Not wasting a moment, Fabrienne sprinted back toward where I was tied up, not once glancing at the eyes that were practically popping out of my head. She moved behind me, and after a whooshing and a clinking sound, I suddenly felt the tension of the ropes on my skin relax. Without another word Fabrienne sprinted back to Brie, holding her sword against the monster's neck, but doing nothing else.

Slogging through the water, I stared incredulously. "Fabrienne, that... that was amazing."

"My thanks, fair maiden!" she replied, cracking a smile.

My eye twitched slightly, but I retained my calm. "Way to make me instantly less grateful. But still, um... thank you."

Our conversation was halted by groggy sounds emanating from the still horrifying-looking Brie. Her red eyes blinked open and stared up at us, questioning.

"Why haven't you killed me?"

"I was about to ask the same thing, Fabrienne," I said, glancing nervously at the unmoving but still intimidating beast.

Fabrienne cocked an eyebrow, her eyes still intently watching Brie, ready to press downward with her blade if required. "You didn't want me killing wild animals, but you're eager for me to murder a sentient being?"

"Surprised you know such big words," Brie muttered.

"Look, I get what you're trying to say, but she wants to kill us. And eat us," I said, crossing my arms. "And she's some sort of shapeshifter, so we can't just tie her up. She'd come after us!"

Brie wore an inscrutable expression again. "If you tied me up and left me and I _couldn't_ get out that'd still be killing me."

"Can you shapeshift back to the cute girl?" I said, trying not to grimace. "Your red eyes are really freaking me out."

Eyes flashing back to Fabrienne, who gave a curt nod, Brie's form melted again, this time back into her more human persona. Her eyes remained red, however. I glared at her, but she just smirked.

"So, Brie. When we were still your captors, you mentioned that you weren't eating us for food. Why, then?" Fabrienne's tone was remarkably calm, and not even threatening. She was kinder than I would have been, but then I probably would have killed Brie already.

Brie's eyes flashed back to Fabrienne, transforming to the more normal green ones during a blink. "You were paying attention? I thought you were too busy sulking about being a virgin."

After a small shrug, Fabrienne said, "I heard it, but didn't really process it until we were fighting."

"Hah, of course. Well... since you have me at a bit of a disadvantage..." Her fingers tapped against Fabrienne's sword, but made no effort to push it away. "Have you ever heard the saying 'you are what you eat'?"

Face blank, Fabrienne said, "No."

"I have," I added.

"Well, for my species, it's literal. The more we eat a particular animal, the more convincingly we can transform ourselves into them."

"That's really weird," I said, before I could stop myself.

Brie's eyes, red once more after a blink, were upon me again. She produced a small shrug, the loose folds of her robe lightly grazing the edge of Fabrienne's blade.

"So you're saying you want to more convincingly transform into a human? You're already quite convincing," I admitted.

With another blink, Brie's eyes changed back to green, a smirk on her lips once more. "Well thank you, dear. But there's a reason I have a robe on, rather than something more form-fitting." To prove her point, Brie slowly extended a leg from under the bottom of her robe. It was oddly thin, and hooved.

Once more trying to conceal a grimace, but undoubtedly failing, I said, "Point taken."

I glanced at Fabrienne's face, noting her 'thinking' expression had overtaken it. "But... why?" she said, brow furrowed. "Why do you want to convincingly transform into a human?"

For the first time during this interrogation, Brie's eyes refused to look directly at either of us. "It's... personal."

"You're murdering humans, and planned to murder us," I said, tone cold. "We need you to answer, regardless of how personal it is."

Brie pouted, but found no sympathy from me, and not enough from Fabrienne. "Okay, fine.... I.... really wish I was a human."

There was silence. Fabrienne and I stared, neither of us having any idea how to respond. Brie, fortunately, seemed willing to elaborate.

"They're just... so soft. And pretty. I want to be like that. Like you two."

A loud splash sounded, causing the water around my feet to ripple. Fabrienne had fallen backward, and her sword had fallen into the water beside her. Brie skittered unnaturally away, pressing up against a cave wall to our right. The world froze, the three of us eyeing one another but not yet making any moves.

Fabrienne, her butt now submerged in the water, glanced back and forth between where her sword fell, and Brie, her mind visibly racing. _Grab it! Why aren't you grabbing it!?_ Instead of doing what my mind was screaming at her, Fabrienne instead crossed her arms and stared determinedly at Brie, otherwise remaining still.

Brie's eyes widened, then flashed back over at me. I had no idea what Fabrienne's plan was, but I knew that I was almost certainly incapable of fighting Brie with that sword as effectively as my companion had. If her plan was to not fight for now, I had little choice but to go along with it. I remained standing, but followed Fabrienne's lead by crossing my arms and staring resolutely at Brie.

Though her eyes flashed back and forth between us a few times, Brie slowly relaxed. "You're... not going to try to fight?"

"I'd rather talk, if you're willing," Fabrienne said, voice stern but not unkind.

Slowly, cautiously, Brie lowered her body, coming to rest on her behind and folding her legs beneath her robe. "I am."

A smile lit up Fabrienne's face, unlike any I'd seen before. It was soft, and warm, and more inviting than any I'd seen before. The inexperienced buffoon I'd come to know seemed to have disappeared, replaced by a strong, confident, caring woman.

Though it was a bit hard to read her expression, Brie seemed at least somewhat affected by this shift in Fabrienne as well. Her face, at the very least, seemed devoid of hostility.

Serene smile still in place, Fabrienne said, "So, you want to be a human. You find us... soft and pretty?"

"You know we're not all like that, right?" I said, my lips pulling downward slightly despite my efforts. "Men, in particular, tend to be described quite differently."

Brie frowned. "Oh, yes, I'm aware of those ones... No, I like the pretty soft ones. I want to be like that. I don't care about your species' 'male' and 'female' labels, though."

"This is so weird..." I said, a bit too loudly. "It's like you're..."

"You're basically..." Fabrienne began.

"Trans," we both finished at practically the same time. Our heads slowly turned to stare at each other.

"Are you...?" Fabrienne started.

"You're not also..." I said, my voice almost a whisper.

We both gasped.

"This is all really adorable," Brie said, drawing our attention her way once more. "But also I have no idea what's going on."

"Oh, um... how to explain..." I said.

"With humans, we're typically labelled 'male' or 'female' when we're born, based on our genitalia," Fabrienne explained.

"And you call me the weird one," Brie muttered, staring my way.

"But we don't always agree with that label, as you might imagine, and those of us who disagree and insist on a different one are called trans."

Brie raised an eyebrow at me. I shrugged. "Yeah, pretty much."

Shaking her head, Brie said, "Well that's odd. I still want to be one of you, but I'll probably ditch some of those weirder customs." She crossed her arms, pouting a little. "So you're saying I'm like you two in that I was labelled a Stryigost when I was born, but I want to be recognized as a human?"

I winced slightly, but nodded. "It's not exactly a perfect comparison, but... I mean, you're a creepy shapeshifting monster, no offense, so there's probably not a perfect comparison."

"The creepy was a little rude," Fabrienne said, glancing my way.

Brie shrugged. "It's fine, she's not wrong."

Fatigued by the night's events and the length of this conversation, I plopped into the water to sit like the other two, and immediately regretted it. "So... this conversation has gone better than I'd imagine, honestly, but... where do we go from here? We don't want you to kill and eat us, obviously, but I'm sure neither of us want you to do it to any other people either."

Hopeful, Fabrienne said, "Is eating people the only way to be able to shapeshift into one of us?"

Shaking her head up and down was all the reply Brie gave.

"Do they have to be alive?" I suggested. "Would corpses work?"

Brie nodded again. "Yes... um... that's actually the only things I've used so far."

I stared, incredulous once again. "Are you serious? You said you'd tied people up like us before!"

"Yeah, that was a lie. I do that sometimes." Her pout returned as she continued, "It's way slower, though, eating corpses. A girl eats six deer and she can turn into a _perfect_ doe. But eat the same number of human corpses, and this is as far as I've gotten. I was getting impatient."

Rising to my feet again, I ignored how cold my lower half felt when removed from the water. "You were going to _murder_ us because you're _impatient_!?"

Brie glanced at her nails, seemingly indifferent. "Yeah. I mean, probably. That was the plan, anyway. Dunno if I was going to be able to go through with it."

Gripping my wet leg, Fabrienne gave a small squeeze. I folded my arms again.

"Well, Brie, it's your lucky day, because you captured and failed to eat two heroic adventurers!" My eyes narrowed, and my gaze turned toward Fabrienne, but she ignored it. "How about we find some corpses for you, so you can transform into what you want sooner?"

"WHAT!?" Brie and I both shouted, in markedly different tones.

Her eyes quickly filling with tears, Brie said, "You... you'd do that for me?"

Moving to stand in front of Fabrienne, I jammed my hands onto her shoulders. She looked up at me serenely. "You can't be serious. You want us to find _human corpses_ to feed to a _vicious shapeshifting monster that literally already tried to kill us_!?"

"I'm sure she'll agree to not try to kill anyone if we do this for her," Fabrienne said with a small grin.

"I do, I do!" Brie shouted from behind me.

I took a deep breath. "Fabreinne, how is it heroic to dig up human corpses? Most people would call that not only gross, but despicable."

Cocking her head to the side, my beautiful but baffling companion said, "It seems more despicable to kill her or leave her to her own devices."

Sighing, I dropped my arms to my side. "I... I guess..."

"Excellent!" Fabrienne leaped to her feet, startling Brie and I. Brie gave a small hiss, but otherwise remained still, while I fell back into the water. It wasn't any better the second time.

"We shall proceed onto our next quest, then, my lady!" Striking her chest with her fist, Fabrienne continued, "We will return posthaste with the objects you desire!"

Brie launched off the wall, causing my heart to skip a beat. But instead of slicing us open, she pulled me up, and then pulled the two of us into a surprisingly warm hug. "I'm so glad I didn't kill you sweeties! You're the nicest people I've ever met."

"You're not too awful yourself, for a terrifying monster."

"Giselle, stop calling her that."

Pressing her warm lips against my cheek, quickly followed by Fabrienne's, Brie pulled away, beaming. "Well, you two are lovely, but I really am getting hungry now. I'll see you later!" With that, she transformed into the splitting image of a deer and bounded away, as though she were walking on air.

Fabrienne and I stood in silence for a few moments, my eyes drifting over her blood-stained side. "We should... probably do something about that."

A grin, filled with overconfidence and absent her former serene presence, enveloped Fabrienne's face. "Right you are, my compatriot!"

"Better than 'maiden', I suppose..."

Throwing an arm around my shoulders, Fabrienne couldn't help but wince when her torn side inadvertently bumped against me. "But first, we must remove ourselves from this dreary cave! Onward!"

Keeping a hand on her to steady her unstable legs, I bent down to pick up her sword, and cautiously returned it to the sheath still wrapped around her waist. Taking another deep breath, I started walking forward, keeping Fabrienne close.

"You're a mess, you know that, right?" I said, a bit irritated, but in good spirits overall.

I noted her grinning out of the corner of my eye. "Well I certainly am a bit bloody and soggy."

I shook my head. "Sure, that too."

"Also my hand still hurts."

It wasn't necessarily appropriate, but all I could do was laugh. I'd been worried, before all this, that Fabrienne was less than capable of keeping us safe. Now I found myself worrying that I would be unable to keep this reckless, brave, caring woman safe despite herself. But I knew that I had to try. And I also knew, deep down, that following Fabrienne had been not a mistake, but the best, albeit the most challenging, decision of my life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's it for the first adventure! Think of it as a two-part episode, despite being two different chapters. Whatever comes next will not follow directly after this, but some indeterminate amount of time, instead. Also I have no idea when the next part will be written. I'll be focusing on other things for a bit, so we'll see. But I hope you enjoyed their first adventure, and that you'll be back whenever the next one rolls around!


End file.
